★Rights Sold: Complex Chinese
★Winner of the 6th Hwangsanbeol Youth Literary Award

Your 4 Minutes and 33 Seconds is a novel inspired by the instrumental music of John Cage which continues for 4 minutes and 33 seconds without any sound. Lee Gi-dong is a figure who is accustomed to discouragement and despair in society where fierce competition is a routine. John Cage is a genius avant-gardist who is acknowledged and praised by those around him. The novel unfolds its narrative by juxtaposing the life of the two and achieves a great feat to elicit the “bittersweet” reality of Lee Gi-dong’s life more dramatically.
“If I am a genius who is at odds with the times, it would be difficult for me to live on. I’d rather consider myself as a fool who is at odds with the times. That is better for my mental health.” Gi-dong is a debuted author but no one asks him to write anything, and nothing goes smoothly in his life. He finds a book of John Cage by accident in a library and tries to seek an answer to his life in John Cage’s life, but his wife, who is indifferent to his writing, finds it ridiculous to seek an answer only in a book. Even while the relationship between him and his wife crumbles, he manages to finish a new book he is writing. However, as no publisher wants to publish it, he decides to release his book himself as an independent publisher. Moreover, as he accidentally stops by a small book store that has stopped operation, he decides to takes over, and he finds new consolation in the place in his own way. This is a story that sheds light on the very present moments that we are living on, not anything special, but which reflects the midst of our life. It is a story that talks about the topic of “the path literature of our generation should take” while giving honest consolation and comfort for all who continue to live their lives although they may not receive attention until the end.

Lee Seo-su was born in Seoul in 1983, having graduated from Dankook University Department of Law. She debuted through her short story “Relief, Vintage or Salvation?” in the 2014 Dong-a Ilbo Annual Spring Literary Contest. She received the 6th Hwangsanbeol Youth Literary Award for her novel Your 4 Minutes and 33 Seconds in 2020.